The present invention relates to hinges which permit adjustment of door alignment subsequent to mounting of the hinge, and to a method for installing doors using this hinge.
Inset cabinet doors, which fit flush into the cabinet door opening when closed, present particular assembly problems. It is essential that the opening be rectangular and that the hinges be mounted in perfect alignment to avoid any binding of the door on the cabinet opening during closing. Such binding will damage the finish of the door and cabinet and does not provide the smooth operation expected from fine quality cabinets. Further, because kitchen cabinets are installed at eye level, any uneven gaps resulting from a poorly fitted door are particularly noticeable.
High-quality kitchen and storage cabinets are typically assembled to order in a central plant and shipped to the desired installation site. During assembly in the plant, dimensional locating fixtures are used to construct a rectangular opening, to mortise hinges where required, and to drill holes for mounting the hinges. Inasmuch as the adjustment of the hinge hole locations to provide the desired fit is most critical in cabinets having inset doors, mounting the hinges to provide proper inset door operation requires much time and attention. The product produced at the central plant must be constantly monitored and the hinge locating fixtures continuously adjusted.
The problems of proper hinge adjustment are multiplied when multiple hinges are provided on a single door. For example, large vertical storage cabinets which are popular in new kitchen cabinet installations may have four or more hinges on a single door. Door fits are also affected by movement of the cabinets during shipping and stresses during installation, so that upon installation the doors may not close properly even though they closed smoothly at the factory. Typically, flat butt hinges are employed wherein the leaves of the hinge abut one another in face-to-bee contact when the hinge is closed. These hinges are difficult to locate accurately, require precise measurements and require mortises to be formed in the door and cabinet frame to enable the door to close snugly against the cabinet frame. In general, the fit problems experienced with standard flat mortised hinges are corrected, on site, using shims. Alternatively, experienced cabinet assemblers and installers can sometimes bend the hinges slightly using a screwdriver or other tool to obtain the desired door fit. The hinges must be bent carefully to avoid damaging the cabinet or adversely affecting operation of the hinge, and it requires some considerable skill to fit doors in this manner.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,134,133 to Hilfiker, 4,674,150 to Salice, 3,908,226 to Read et al., and 4,698,877 and 4,720,896 to Lautenschlager, Jr. et al. show adjustable hinges having multiple components. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,615,194 to Kreiner and 5,144,721 to Schade disclose adjustable hinge assemblies which employ backing plates and slots in either the hinge leaves or the backing plate to permit vertical and horizontal adjustment of the position of the hinge on the door or frame to assure a better fit of the door in the frame. Hinges of these general types are more expensive to manufacture than are flat hinges and provide an obtrusive appearance that is undesirable in fine quality cabinetwork. Such adjustable hinges have not been used in high-quality inset door cabinet applications because of their cost, complexity and appearance. Long, generally flat mortised hinges with adjusting slots in the leaves are available, as illustrated on page 65 of Catalog 155 from Braun Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill. However, none of these hinges is entirely suitable for the cabinet applications discussed above.
Another important application of the present invention is in the field of passage and entry door hinges. Wooden passage doors are generally hung on site, inset into a frame with their hinges mortised into both the frame and the door. Solid core wooden doors are heavy and often have three or four hinges. Mortising and mounting multiple hinges properly to both the door and frame so that the door closes flush with the frame and so that neither the door nor the hinge binds requires considerable skill. The doors and frames involved may be of fine hardwood and are costly to replace if ruined through improper hinge placement. As a result, because of the precision required in matching the hinge locations and depths on the door and frame, less-experienced personnel cannot be left to hang heavy doors without supervision if a perfect fit is to be obtained.
A significant improvement in the mounting of both inset cabinet doors as well as passage doors can be realized by use of butt hinges which do not require mortising by virtue of one smaller leaf nesting within a cutout portions of the other larger leaf to present, in the hinge-closed position, a hinge having a single leaf thickness. Such hinges are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,237,577 to Chapel and 4,543,687 to Law. However, neither of these hinges are readily adjustable in position or capable of achieving long-term stability of the door fit.